Perhaps the name of the property should have provided the biggest clue- The Wheelhouse, but as I am of urban upbringing I had not, on my way out into that remote countryside district, given any deep thought to what that meant.
Wheelhouse to me is more reminiscent of something maritime anyway.
I was shown into the house, the wing of a larger converted agricultural barn, by its proud owners and given the introductory talk on the theory and practice of rotary power.
Strangely, I had been compelled to take up a position in the very middle of the room by the mesmeric web of huge supporting beams.
These were certainly of some age and pockmarked with wormy trails but retaining much of their considerable density and sheer strength.
In its pre-lounge days that round room had been occupied by two magnificent Shire Horses harnessed to a large diameter gear wheel mounted on a vertical shaft high up in the eaves.
As they were coaxed to plod around the post, no doubt by the youngest member of the farming family or their labour force, their kinetic energy would be transferred to a second array of gears in order to drive machinery such as threshers and millstones.
The group of barns and ancillary buildings attached to and adjacent to the property I was visiting had evidently formed a very industrious and productive farmstead in their halcyon years but were now attractive residences retaining a lot of character and authentic architectural features.
The wheelhouse had by all accounts done well to survive almost intact as many similar structures having fallen into redundancy and obsolescence had simply been demolished.
This example had been one of the early versions and from the appearance of the exposed brickwork I would hazard a guess at early to mid 18th Century origins.
Even this type of basic power transmission was developing rapidly in terms of its relative technology, efficiency and applications and the overhead rig was soon replaced with one mounted at ground level.
This did require the horse or horses to step over the drive equipment upon each of their walking revolutions.
I was fascinated by this primitive but functional power station.
This specific rural location was devoid of watercourses to be tamed by a millrace and waterwheel and just a bit too exposed to fierce westerly winds for a windmill.
The use of horsepower was therefore a power source of last resort but nevertheless invaluable to a working farmstead.
I enjoyed the tour of the wheelhouse but not so much having to rack my brain to work out how to measure the circular room.
That old school geometry book would have to be consulted when I got back to my natural habitat in the city.
How did it go?
I seem to recall that the calculation involved pies and squares.
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